Escape from Hell Itself (A DDLC, P-L Story)
by AgentJohn2
Summary: Based heavily on the work of u/TwixsterTheTrickster on Reddit. Storyline and characters are loosely based on the "Project Libitina" content in DDLC, and used with Twixster's permission. I highly recommend you look up and read their work before this for the sake of context. This story covers some heavy stuff, but I've made an effort not to be too explicit.
1. Escape

I never was a fan of the whole "Vigilante Justice" thing. An edgy billionaire swooping out of the night to pound criminals into oatmeal, a kid with spider powers cracking jokes and stopping crime, or whatever other characters comic books managed to dream up. In most cases, your actions made you comparable to, if not worse than the people you were fighting, and there usually was a much more civil, reasonable, and acceptable alternative that would achieve similar, if not better results.

Not this time.

I guided the car down the old maintenance road as the rain pounded the windshield.

Let me correct myself: the * _fake*_ old maintenance road.

Of course they wanted to hide it, and hide it they did for these many years. If anyone knew about it, they'd have the entire United States Army on top of them in no time flat. Then again, it's not like anyone would believe it. It's so ridiculous and horrible that even people who enjoy conspiracy theories would pass it off as being "too extreme" or "too horrible to imagine."

The winding road was interrupted by a small barricade that looked like it hadn't been touched in years. The trees on either side blocked any chance of going around it in a vehicle, and we still had quite a ways to go. Thankfully, I'd done this thousands of times by now.

Exiting the car, I approach the run-down shack, shielding myself from the rain with a small umbrella, and knocked on the door. Two quick—pause—three slow—pause—one. I couldn't see it, but I knew they were watching, as always. Without any other response, the barricade slowly lifted.

Returning to the car, I gripped the steering wheel tightly, steeling myself. I heard a quiet sigh from the passenger seat. Oh yah, she was the one responsible for me being here. After she left this place, they needed a new doctor. She knew they wanted me, so she got to me first.

"You good?" Focusing on the road ahead, I break the silence that has persisted for the past few miles.

A pause. "Y-Yah, I'm good. I'll be fine."

I was reluctant to bring her along. Sure, she probably hates this place even more than I do, but I'm still not sure if she's ready for what we're going to do. I know for a fact that she has had semi-regular panic attacks for the past few years as a result of this place, and our last attempt left her in such a state that she needed a good week to recover to the point where she could talk about what had happened. Still, she insisted on doing this, and knowing her, there wasn't much I could do to stop her.

"We practiced this. You know what to do." I try to be reassuring, while also trying to hide how tightly I'm gripping the steering wheel. I'm supposed to be the strong one here. If I crumble, so does she. I steady my nerves, relaxing my grip on the wheel ever so slightly.

"I'm ready, John, trust me. I can do this."

Oh yah, I should probably introduce myself. In this story, I'll go by "John," though you can call me whatever you want, I don't care. It's a fake identity anyways, but she has made a habit of referring to me by it all the time in order to prevent accidentally slipping up. It's a simple system and it works. And yah, her name's Monika, but you probably know her by now anyways.

I look her in the eyes. They're vivid green and full of determination and hate, but the latter isn't directed at me. You could probably see it in my eyes too if you looked hard enough. We both hate this place, both for what it's done to us, and for what it's done to others.

Three "others" in particular.

The sound of rough gravel underneath the car's wheels abruptly disappeared, replaced by a smoothly-paved road. We were almost there. My hand went to my side, underneath my coat. My fingers connected with cold metal. Yes, it was there. Yes, it was ready. Glancing her way, I see she's doing the same thing. Again, our eyes meet. I nod, she gives a determined smile.

I pulled the car into the lot and swung it around to face back down the road. I stopped the engine, but left the keys in the ignition.

"Last chance to go back."

Her face was slightly pale, but she set her jaw, "We're not going back."

"Alright, remember, you get 110, I'll get the other two. Meet back here, and if I don't show up, don't hesitate."

"Got it."

I took a deep breath and exited the car, grabbing my bag as I went. She followed a moment later. Resolutely, we walked towards that horrible building. I'd lost count of how many times I'd descended into those depths over the years. Over time, they'd taken something from me, but it was nothing compared to what they'd taken from others. This time was different though. This time the monster had no idea what it was swallowing.

For three years I'd walked into those doors every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. Often I'd get calls in the middle of the night. 'One of their experiments went too far and I was needed to save their test subjects.' 'One of them attempted suicide for the 15th time.' Whatever reason they had, it was never good. Often I wondered how those poor innocent souls were even still alive after all this, or how they hadn't been driven into insanity years ago. Somehow, they always seemed to hang onto their lives and minds by just a thread. Maybe it was the hope of one day getting out? Maybe it was some side effect of what they were going through? I'm the doctor here and I still have no idea.

But it was time for all this to end. If it ended with us dead in some god-forsaken hallway of this god-forsaken place, so be it, but this monster would * _feel*_ it. We would make sure of that. We would take its precious "experiments" and leave it wounded and weakened, and if we couldn't, we would go down fighting.

We reached the door. I drew my weapon. She drew hers.

It was time to be heroes.

Or die trying.

As one, we charged down the monster's throat.

We burst in from the storm, making our own thunder. The entrance hall was clear in a matter of moments. We had the element of surprise and the guards there never stood a chance. I lined up the sights of my weapon and channelled all my hatred for this place and the people who ran it. I recognized these guards and could name each and every one of the unforgivable things they'd done while I watched. I'm sure there were more things that happened when I didn't.

We charged further into the compound. Time was not on our side. The further in we got before they realized what was going on, the better. We followed the route that I'd traveled many times before, but never like this. At the end of a hallway we spotted a group of guards rushing towards us. Evidently they'd heard the gunshots and were coming to investigate. I flattened myself against the nearest cover I could find, an open steel door, and began picking them off one by one. She did the same. The gunfight was short and the surprised guards only managed to get a few, inaccurate shots off in our general direction before we finished them. It wouldn't be long now. We had to get moving.

I reached the big double-doors to wing A and burst through with her right behind me. We surprised another group of guards who were standing on the other side. I held down the trigger until the magazine was empty and all the guards were down, then stopped to reload. "GO!" I shouted. Without hesitation, she ran off down one corridor towards her target. I flipped the bolt back into place on my weapon and rushed down a different corridor. I had two targets to grab, she had one. The ones I was after were more heavily guarded, but hers was further away.

I gritted my teeth as alarms began to sound. They finally knew we were here. Things were about to get a whole lot more difficult.

I slowed my pace. Now that they knew of our presence, the whole "burst around a corner and shoot everything" tactic would be a great deal less effective. Plus, I was nearing my first target. The last thing I wanted was for a stray bullet to hit one of the three people in this hell hole that didn't deserve it.

This was it, the last corner before holding room 108. I flattened myself against the wall and slowly poked my head around the corner. A bullet ricocheted off the wall about three inches from my face and I snapped back around the corner.

Shouting, running feet, probably 4 or 5 guards. I couldn't get into a gunfight here, not without risking her safety. I ran back down the hall where I'd come from and dove into the first open door I saw, carefully closing it behind me and praying they hadn't seen. The pounding footsteps and shouting approached, growing louder and closer.

The sounds passed the door. I smiled, then pushed the door open. There they were, all running down a long hallway, all shouting, and all facing the wrong way. Within moments, they were all sprawled on the hallway floor. "Always watch your six," I muttered and raced back up the hallway towards the cell.

Rounding the corner, I saw that the containment room door was open.

That's strange. Something wasn't right.

I slowed my approach and moved as quietly as I could, listening closely. As I neared the cell, I could hear someone softly crying and heavy breathing. I stopped, frozen, just a few feet from the door.

Those two sounds weren't coming from the same person. There was at least one other person in the room with her. I swore under my breath. This wasn't good.

"We know you're there, Doc!" a raspy voice called from inside the room, "If you don't get in here with your hands up, I'll blow it's brains out!"

I remained frozen. How the hell am I going to play this one?

"I'm going to count to ten, and if you don't come in with your hands up—!"

"Alright, alright!" I called out. I carefully placed my weapon and bag just outside the door, stood, and entered the room with my hands up.

Sure enough, there were two guards in here, along with the subject. She knelt in the center of the room, and both the guards held a sidearm to her head.

"See? That wasn't so hard!" the taller one with the raspy voice laughed. I recognized him, the one with the huge scar on his cheek.

"Hey guys, how's the day going?"

"Shut up and get down on your knees!" the scar-faced one shouted.

I remained standing. "I see you're still cranky as always. Good to see nothing's changed around here since Wednesday."

"I SAID SHUT UP!" he shouted. "Knock some sense into him!" he said, turning to his companion who nodded and grinned in response.

"You know, I've always wondered," I continued, putting as much sarcasm in my voice as I could manage, "are you this cranky just because it's who you are, or does that scar make you look so horrible that you are forced to match it with your personality?"

The guard was seething at this point, and he couldn't seem to decide if he wanted to shoot me right then and there or keep his gun to her head. Without realizing it, he was now aiming at empty space in front of her head, halfway between me and her. Perfect.

Without warning, I leapt at him, knocking his companion to the side in the process. I'm no football player, but I'm certainly not a small guy. The gun went off, a deafening explosion in the tiny room, and I prayed that it had stayed off-target. I knocked him to the floor, and there was a sickening crunch as his head hit the concrete. He didn't get up.

Spinning around to face his friend, I saw that he was rolling on the floor, clutching his side. Apparently the stray bullet had found its way to him. I wasn't going to complain, I needed the luck right about then. Borrowing a dropped weapon, I considered putting him out of his misery, but decided against it. No need to scare the girl any more than she needed to be, and he clearly wasn't going anywhere.

Now for the girl. This was the one they never fed, right? One look at her and it was pretty obvious. She wasn't much more than skin and bones and her glassy eyes remained fixed on the door as she sobbed quietly. Her pink hair was greasy and matted with blood, and her face alone was bruised and broken in more ways than I care to describe. I groaned. Of course, that was why we had wanted to get them out two weeks ago. They had some horrible stuff planned for this one and our hope was to get them all out before that could happen, but things didn't go very well with the quiet and careful approach. I didn't even have clearance to know what they had planned, and that meant it had to be pretty bad, even by their standards. I knew one thing though: the poor girl was starving. Normally she was kept hungry, but you could see it in her eyes, this was more. She had yet to make eye contact with me or even acknowledge my existence.

I quickly retrieved my bag from outside the door and began rummaging around in a side pocket until I found what I was looking for. I unwrapped the little protein bar and held it up to her. Her eyes slowly came into focus and she weakly reached for it. (My god these people who did this to her deserved to die.) I placed it gently in her shaking hand and guided that hand to her mouth. The bar was gone in no time flat, and she finally looked up and met my eyes. Her eyes had regained some brightness and she seemed to be trying to say something. I couldn't tell what it was though, because clearly she'd lost her voice somehow. I tried not to think about how that could have happened.

"Hey, I'm here to get you out of here, ok?"

The way her eyes lit up made everything worth it.

"Can you walk?"

She tried to stand, but I had to catch her when she started to fall forward. She whimpered in pain. She was covered in cuts, bruises, and crude bandages in various stages of falling off.

"Don't worry, I'll carry you. Just stay still."

I picked her up and cradled her in my arms, being careful to hurt her as little as possible in the process. I was amazed at how light she was. It was like she weighed nothing. Of course she weighed nothing, she hadn't had one decent meal in her life.

"M-M-More?" her voice cracked.

"I don't have any more with me right now, but I've got plenty of supplies in the car, ok? Just hold on. You'll be safe soon. I promise."

She didn't respond, she just closed her eyes and kept herself close to my body. She was shaking, and I wasn't sure if it was from cold, fear, hunger, or something else.

As we exited the room, I glanced above the doorway at the white skull that still hung there. Poor kid. If he'd had as much brains as he had heart he might have been accompanying us right now. Well, maybe his poor soul would get some peace now.

Now things were more difficult. I couldn't carry her and shoot accurately, nor could I run very fast. On top of all that, I still had to get to my second target. This was going to be interesting. Thankfully it wasn't far to room 114. I just had to—

Gunshots echoed ahead of me. Shouting. Screaming. Horrible sounds. I hunkered down around the corner and waited, holding the girl close and whispering to her to keep quiet. She was clearly shaking from fear now, so I held her as tightly as I thought I could without hurting her.

The sounds continued for a few minutes, then suddenly there was silence.

I waited a minute, then slowly peaked around the corner.

At the end of the hall, there were guards lying everywhere.

None of them moved.

What on earth…?

Oh.

Oh that explains it.

The door to room 114 was open.

Was the whole "hold a gun to the test subject's head" thing a protocol I wasn't aware of?

Clearly some idiot pushed things too far.

Well, things seemed quiet.

I made my way quietly around the corner. Nothing happened. I carefully set the pink-haired girl down up against the wall. "Don't go anywhere or make any noise, ok?"

She looked scared and held a hand out to me. I held it briefly, "I promise I'll be back, ok? Trust me."

After a moment, she nodded slowly, still looking worried. I gave her a smile, squeezed her hand, and continued down the hall, stepping over bodies as I went. Some had been shot, some had been stabbed, and others I wasn't sure what had happened.

I reached the door. I didn't want to startle her. That would end very badly.

"Hey?" I called out softly.

"G-Go away." A soft voice from inside responded shakily.

"I'm here to help."

"N-No you're not. D-Don't lie."

"I'm not lying. If I were lying, would I have come on my own?"

Silence. I took it as a good sign and slowly walked into the doorway, hands in the air. (And no, the irony wasn't lost on me that this was the second time I was doing this.)

In the far corner of the room, a taller, purple-haired girl covered in blood and ragged bandages sat, hugging her knees and sobbing silently. When I entered, she quickly looked up as if expecting a blow of some sort. After a moment, her expression changed to that of confusion. I crouched down in the corner across from her and waited for her to say something.

"Y-You're a d-doctor."

"I *was* a doctor, yah."

"Y-You hurt us."

This was already going badly, shoot.

"Actually, I was the one who got to patch you back up. I didn't do much hurting for the sake of hurting."

"T-This is just some experiment, i-isn't it?" Her eyes flew around the room, clearly looking for some sort of threat.

I did my best to be patient, but I knew that time still wasn't on my side here. "If I were here for an experiment, wouldn't I have guards with me?"

The girl continued to scan her surroundings, still not believing what I was saying. Then I got it.

"What's your name?"

Her eyes instantly stopped looking for danger and locked on me, surprise clearly written on her face. Doctors and guards were heavily discouraged from using test subjects' names, instead instructed to refer to them by their room number. This was quite possibly one of the few times she'd heard that question in her life, and it took her a moment to process it.

"Y-Y-Yuri."

"Nice to meet you, Yuri. You can call me John. Now would you like to get out of this place?"

Slowly, she nodded. I stood and held out a hand. Carefully, she rose to her feet and cautiously took my hand. She seemed to expect that at any moment I would pull her off to another experiment, but I kept my grip gentle and slowly lead her out of the room.

The moment she saw the dead guards, she stopped and looked as if she was going to be sick.

"Eyes on me, ok? You can make it. Just say that I did this if it helps at all," I gestured to the gun on my hip. She looked at me again, visibly swallowed, and nodded.

Slowly, I guided her down the hall and to the other girl. I was relieved to see that she was still there, and she seemed equally relieved that I had returned. As far as I was aware, these two had never seen each other. The one in room 110 was the one used most often for situations where interaction with equals was required. My assumption was proven correct by the way the two looked at each other.

Yuri turned to me, "I-I only knew there was…" she trailed off, tears forming in her eyes.

"There's just the three of you, as far as I'm aware. I only know your name, but the one in room 110 is the only one who has seen everyone. Now, we have to get m—"

"N-Natsuki," the smaller girl croaked.

I was slightly surprised, but before I could say anything, Yuri had already knelt down andheld out a hand to the other girl. "I-I'm Yuri. N-Nice to meet you, Natsuki."

Natsuki glanced back down the hallway at the carnage, then back at Yuri, concern on her face, but just as Yuri looked like she might cry, the smaller girl smiled warmly at her and weakly gripped her hand.  
I hated to break up such a moment, but we really had to get moving. "Ok guys, we really have to get going."

Yuri stood up resolutely and again held out a hand to Natsuki, who's smile faded.

"She can't walk right now," I explained, "I'll have to carry her."

"B-But what if we run into guards?"

I drew the sidearm I'd taken from the guard earlier and handed it to her. "We shouldn't, but if we do, I'll need your help, ok?"

Yuri looked at the gun as if it were something that could bite her at any second, but she set her jaw and nodded.

Finally we began moving towards the exit, me carrying Natsuki and Yuri following close behind. The only way in or out of this place was through the main doors, and I just prayed that backup hadn't arrived yet. I wondered if Monika had gotten the other one yet, and I hoped that she hadn't left without us if she had. This had taken significantly longer than I had wanted and I just hoped it wouldn't cost us.

It would cost us.

As we approached the exit, someone started shouting behind us. "I'VE FOUND THEM! THEY'RE GOING FOR THE EXIT! YES, HE HAS 114!"

"RUN!" I called to Yuri, and I began running as fast as I could with Natsuki in my arms, holding onto my neck for dear life. Behind us, I heard voices growing louder. Gunshots. Bullets wizzing past, striking walls all around us.

I felt one strike my left arm just above the elbow. I twisted sideways from the impact and pain, but managed not to fall or drop Natsuki. Yuri was running for all she was worth and Natsuki was on the verge of choking me with how hard she was holding on.

Come on.

Just need to cross the parking lot.

Just need to get to the car.

Ignore the rain.

Monika will be there.

We can get out of here.

Just a few more feet.

I nearly collapsed against the cover of the car. They were still shooting, but I doubted they would have a good chance at hitting us for a bit. I was about to jump in the driver's seat when I realized Monika wasn't there yet. My heart sank. How long could I afford to wait?

Then I remembered it.

Quickly, I placed Natsuki in the back seat of the car and had Yuri sit with her. They should be safe there for now. The doors were thick enough and Yuri still had the gun if she needed it.

Carefully, trying not to expose myself, I went around to the trunk, opened it, and grabbed the case from inside. Opening it quickly, I pulled out it's contents. To put it simply, compared to this gun, we'd been using pea-shooters this whole time. The only reason I didn't bring it in with us was that its length made it impractical for close-quarters gunfights. I smiled. If anything could buy Monika time, it would be this thing.

Bracing it on the trunk of the car, I lined up the nearest group of enemies and held down the trigger. The gun kicked hard with every shot and my injured arm screamed in protest, but the guards quickly learned the hard way not to poke their heads outside. The unfortunate part was that I only had one magazine.

For a solid minute I stayed like that, gunning down any guard who popped outside trying to take a few pot-shots at me. Then it happened. The gun went 'click' instead of 'bang.' I swore under my breath, and immediately it was clear that my enemies realized this too. It was time to go. I'm so sorry Monika.

Just before I could dive for the driver's seat, motion in the doorway caught my eye. A guard was standing there, but he wasn't holding a gun. He was standing like he was about to pitch a fastball…

Oh god.

He had a grenade, didn't he.

Time seemed to go into slow motion. As I reached for the door to get Natsuk and Yuri out of the car, I saw him begin to accelerate his hand forward. There was no way I'd get them to safety in time, and even if I did, we'd have no car, no way of escape. We'd come all this way just to be stopped by this? I couldn't believe it.

Suddenly, the man crumpled forwards, grenade still in his hand. From the shadows of the monster's mouth, Monika emerged. Her uniform was tattered, she had blood caked on her left side, and her hair was an absolute mess, but in her left hand she held her sidearm, still aimed at the falling guard, and in her right was the hand of a young girl with dirty, peach-colored hair. She had made it after all.

My joy turned to horror as I realized that the guard's dead hand still held the grenade.

 _"LOOK OUT!"_ I yelled at the top of my lungs, but Monika barely had time to look confused before the world behind her turned into a ball of fire. Without hesitation, I charged directly toward the inferno. A few guards seemed to have survived the blast, but they were still recovering. I didn't care. Where was Monika?

I found her, struggling to her feet and holding her head about 10 feet where she was when I last saw her. Her back was smoking and a few new patches of blood were appearing, but she seemed to be ok for now. I helped her to her feet, pointed her towards the car, and looked around for the girl.

I saw her. She wasn't moving. I ran over to her. She was breathing, thank god. I picked her up and began running back towards the car. She seemed to come to her senses and started hitting and kicking me. Of course, she doesn't recognize me. That's ok, we can sort that out soon, we just need to—

"MR COW! NO!"

what—?

"HEY!" I exclaimed in surprise and pain. She bit my arm! My bad arm! Reflexively I let her go and she started running back towards what looked like a mud-covered stuffed cow and a wooden box.

As I turned to chase after her, time went into slow motion again. I heard Monika running behind me, felt the cold rain falling on my face, and saw the guard in the doorway, lining up a shot at the girl.

I shouted to her, but she didn't respond. I drew my sidearm again, but I knew I'd be too late.

A gunshot, seemingly ten times louder than the rest, echoed across the parking lot. I fired off three shots in the direction of the doorway, but in the corner of my eye I saw the girl twist and fall to the ground. I bellowed with anger, continuing to fire towards the doorway. We hadn't come this far just to lose one. I refused.

Then she moved. She was crawling towards us, clearly in pain, but clutching the stuffed cow and box in one arm and puling herself forward with the other. I watched Monika rush out and grab her while I did my best to provide covering fire. My handgun clicked, and I called to Monika to get back to the car.

Under a hail of bullets, I jumped into the driver's seat and started the car while Monika practically threw the girl in the back seat with the others, slammed the door, and jumped into her own seat. I stomped on the gas and we were off, tires spinning, bullets ricocheting off the car, and rain whipping the windshield.

As we careened down the road, the ringing in my ears slowly subsided and I became aware of what was going on in the car. Natsuki and the other girl were both crying, and Yuri looked like she wanted to melt into the seat. Monika was doing her best to calm them down and to tend to them. The third girl alternated between crying about her shoulder, crying about her stuffed cow, and crying about Yuri for some reason. It probably had something to do with the experiment done between them. I hadn't been told what had happened, but I got to patch her up afterwards so it wasn't too hard to figure out.

Natsuki stopped crying the instant Monika brought out food for them, and while Sayori eventually stopped crying long enough to introduce herself, she never really stopped sniffling and whimpering. A bullet to the shoulder isn't just something you brush off and I understand that. I mean, I really understood that considering that my left arm felt like it was on fire * _and_ * splitting in half.

Now I can't tell you where we went because that's where we are now and I'm positive we aren't in the clear yet, but I can tell you that it's somewhere cozy in the middle of nowhere. These girls will never fully recover and I never held the belief that that would for even a second. Hell, I know I won't ever fully recover and I didn't even go through half of what they did, but that's besides the point. The point is, you don't just drop them head-first into society and expect things to go well. Even the concept of a fork was new to them, as we learned during our first real supper together (when Natsuki tried to eat mashed potatoes with her fingers and Sayori tried drinking them) so they've got plenty to learn.

The first night was quite an adventure. It wasn't a short drive to where we were going, and by time we reached it both Yuri and Natsuki had passed out. While I tended to Sayori's shoulder (thankfully it wasn't nearly as serious as it looked), Monika went full "mother hen" and threw together some peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, fussing over the girls the whole time. Natsuki and Sayori both ate them so fast that they ended up throwing up afterwards, but Monika made them each another sandwich and made sure they ate them slowly.

Later, after Monika made sure they got cleaned up (which was an adventure in and of itself or so I've heard), they all wanted to sleep on the floor as opposed to the beds we had for them. I guess it makes sense considering the only beds they ever experienced were either the doctor's bed or had something to do with an experiment. We managed to convince Natsuki and Sayori to try them, but Yuri quietly refused and we decided not to push it.

Monika managed to get away from the whole adventure with nothing more than a few cuts on her side and a very scratched-up back, whereas I ended up with my arm in a sling for the next few weeks. I already knew Yuri was going to be a mess, but I was not prepared for the sheer number of cuts, burns, and scars on her body. Sayori had a few of her own, but the thing that stood out to me the most was the huge bruise encircling her neck. Apparently that was something that they either considered too serious to call me for, or not worth the effort. Either way, it hadn't been treated very well and I made sure to change that.

Natsuki was a whole other story. Honestly to this day I'm not sure what they did to her because every time you even get close to asking about it she totally shuts down, but good god I have no idea how she survived it. She wasn't even able to walk on her own without help for the first week and a half, though that could also be partially attributed to her being starved. Thankfully Monika knows how to cook well, and Natsuki seems interested in learning the skill herself. You should have seen the pure joy on her face the first time she had a hot meal. All those years of it being just out of reach, and finally she had it. Oh yah, she did get her voice back after a few days and she turned out to be a real chatterbox along with Sayori. I have my guesses as to how she lost it, but I'd rather not put them into writing, especially when I don't know anything for certain.

The girls' relationships with each other haven't been quite as happy a story, however. Sayori refuses to talk to or even sit near Yuri, and you can clearly see just how much it hurts Yuri when it happens. Natsuki was a little guarded around Sayori to begin with, but they appear to be on pretty good terms now. Yuri and Natsuki have also grown closer, though they often disagree and argue about things. The worst part seems to be Yuri not getting along with herself. She has it in her head that she's some sort of monster and that she doesn't deserve all this, but she has yet to even begin to act aggressive in any sense of the word. I'm not sure what's going on in her head, but Monika and I hope that she grows out of it and recovers soon.

As for the whole "Third Eye" bullshit, I'm still unsure what exactly it's supposed to be, how real it is, and how much of a problem it might be. By this point each girl has mentioned something about "voices," and both Yuri and Sayori have commented something along the lines of them being quieter now that they're not in that place. Unfortunately, "quieter" doesn't seem to mean "gone." We've already found Yuri cutting herself several times, and every time it's been because of these voices according to her. Nightmares are a regular occurrence, I'm not at all surprised about that, but what I am surprised about is how they always seem to include these voices somehow, at least when the girls share them.

My only regret in all this is that I didn't run into any doctors, and Monika didn't find any either. As bad as the guards are, they're nothing compared to the doctors. They're the ones who come up with all this messed up stuff, after all. (I was the only exception, since I was mostly just there to patch up what they broke and to make sure the test subjects kept breathing.) That being said, I can't help but wonder why there were no doctors around. I would have loved to have had a word or two with them, especially that Dr. L character. He always made me sick, and somehow he always felt more dangerous than the others.

But anyways, whatever happens, we intend to stay here for quite a while. These girls need time and that's ok. I've got more ammunition for my "Cow Gun" as Sayori has taken to calling it, and I always keep it just a few steps away at most. I don't intend to break that habit anytime soon, so if anyone fishy comes knocking, they're in for a treat, I'll tell you that. (And yes, Sayori came up with the name because she'd heard how it protected us. Apparently she views her little stuffed cow as her protector, so it was a no-brainer for her.)

Oh yah, Monika managed to fix Sayori's cow plushie and I've never seen anyone so happy before. She takes that thing everywhere, and if I'm being completely honest, it's kind of adorable. That new bird with a top hat plushie was also Monika's idea, and boy has she latched onto that one as well. As for the music box, she has yet to give any explanation for it, but she always winds it up and lets it play as she falls asleep. The tune is haunting and sad, but also beautiful and soothing. She must find comfort in it.

Yah, yah, I've rambled long enough.

Who knows, maybe you'll hear from me again, maybe you won't. No news is probably good news in a situation like this. Don't worry, I'll take care of all of them. Monika is already almost like a mother to them, and I guess I'm the dad...? Not sure about that one. I guess we'll see.

Looks like we've found that special day.

See you all on the other side.


	2. Downpour

The icy rain pummeled me underneath my raincoat, soaking every inch of exposed skin and veiling anything more than a few feet in front of me in a nearly-literal wall of water. I stumbled my way in the direction of safety and hoped that I hadn't gotten myself turned around somewhere. The last thing I wanted was to be wandering off into the forest in a storm like this in the middle of the night. I wiped the rain from my eyes and squinted into the darkness.

Lightning split the sky and thunder rolled across the treetops less than a second later. The storm was nearly on top of me now. Thankfully, the lightning had done more than startle me, it had shown me the outline of our little cabin. I adjusted my heading, kept my head down, and trudged my way across the muddy ground towards home.

Home. That was what it was now, wasn't it? It had been about two and a half months since we first arrived, and since then it had really grown on me. Not so much the rough cabin itself, but more the people it sheltered. It may not be the ideal home, the floor may be creaky, the ceiling may have a few leaks, and some doors may not hang perfectly straight, but it was a refuge for the people I cared about and that was enough to make it home for me.

As I drew closer, I could see cracks of light seeping through the shutters. Just imagining the warm fire made me quicken my pace. I crossed the drive and made my way across the clearing, passing our trusty old jeep.

"At least I won't have to wash it later." My muttering was lost in the sound of the pounding rain as I approached the door.

I raised my hand to knock, but the door swung open before I could even knock once. I could see the worry in her sparkling green eyes, but I expected that. She always worried too much.

"You're soaked through!"

"Brilliant observation, Sherlock."

I got a light punch to the chest for that one as I walked through the door, but it was entirely worth it.

Shedding my raincoat and propping my gun up against the wall next to the door, I made a beeline for the fire, only to be stopped short after a few steps by a scolding voice behind me, sternly reminding me to take off my boots first. I laughingly complied before finding a comfortable chair and scooting it closer to the fire. Frozen feet propped on the hearth, I settled back to enjoy the warmth.

It was mere moments before a flying mess of peach-colored hair flew around the corner and tackled me in a clumsy hug. Slightly startled, I nevertheless laughed and returned it with the biggest bear-hug I could manage. Sayori certainly loved to put plenty of enthusiasm in her greetings, and I really didn't mind.

"Aren't you supposed to be in bed?" I laughed and released her. She jumped up, found another chair, and scooted it next to mine. She sat, looking playfully guilty and absently hugging her cow to her chest.

"Awwwwww, come on, can't I stay up and watch the fire with you?" There were her characteristic puppy-dog eyes.

I laughed again, smiling, "Well, you do need your sleep. You wouldn't want to fall asleep in Monika's class again, now would you?"

She laughed nervously, putting her fingertips together in the way she always did, "A-Again?"

I messed her hair playfully, "Thanks for the hug, but I think you need to be getting some sleep. It's pretty late, after all."

"Okaaaaay…" she tried to look disappointed, but she couldn't manage to keep a straight face and quickly was back to smiling. With a quick hop, she was off the chair and, after another quick hug, was on her way back to her room.

"Goodnight, Sayori!" I called after her as she disappeared around the corner.

"Goodnight!" she called back in a sing-song voice.

It was amazing how she'd recovered from her life in that horrible place. When she first got here, she would have episodes where she thought she was still a subject in that hell-hole, cowering in her room until Monika or I came in to reassure her that she was safe and that everything was ok. Given time and care, she turned out to be a real bundle of sunshine, always smiling and full of energy. I attribute that last part to Monika's care and cooking. All the girls were pretty lethargic when they first got here, but once they got to taste the meals Monika whipped up and got a little more meat on their bones, they all perked up. It took several days of scrubbing and tending to cuts and bruises, but Monika's care made each of them look like entirely new people. She'd even started homeschooling them, which was always entertaining to watch.

But back to Sayori, there is still one major problem and that is Yuri. Not that Yuri had done anything at all in our time together to merit such treatment, but whenever Yuri is nearby, Sayori just refuses to acknowledge her existence or be near her. I still haven't managed to learn what happened from either of them, but I do have my theories. None of them are pleasant.

Yuri herself has been a bit of an enigma, remaining incredibly introverted and not talking much. It became very obvious very quickly that she needed glasses, and thankfully I had an old pair lying around. No, they're not perfect, but taking her to an eye doctor isn't exactly an option yet. I don't know just how bad her vision was or just how much of a difference these glasses make, but the way she looks at everything makes me think it's a night-and-day difference. Of course, she doesn't say much about it, but just the way she smiles when she looks outside makes me extremely glad I had the glasses.

Natsuki is definitely the most aggressive of the three, and the one who most openly expresses her hatred for the whole mess we pulled her from. However, if you try to go into detail with her about her time there she simply stops talking and either silently walks away or stares off into the distance. I'm fairly certain she's bottling up all that happened to her, and I'm concerned because that simply cannot be healthy. I won't push it for now, but we'll see what happens in the future. She'll have to open up about it eventually or it'll eat her up from the inside. In happier news, she's apparently an expert at cooking already, and it's really good to see her starting to look less like a walking skeleton and more like a normal girl.

Outside, the storm still raged, flashes of lightning seeping through the cracks in the shutters, rolls of thunder shaking the windowpanes, and rain drumming endlessly on the roof. Inside though, it was warm, cozy, and safe. I was really enjoying my spot by the fire, so much so that I considered just staying there and falling asleep…

"You really shouldn't have gone out in that storm," a soft voice behind me scolded, jolting me back to consciousness. "You could have gotten lost or hurt and we never would have been able to find you!" Monika joined me, taking the seat Sayori had pulled up.

"Yah, yah, I know. It didn't look * _that*_ bad before I left."

"You couldn't see three feet out the window and the yard was already practically a lake!"

"Like I said, not * _that_ * bad," I grinned.

She tried to keep a stern face, but slowly a smile broke through. She may worry too much, but she can definitely still smile.

"I'll be off to bed now. It'll probably be a busy day tomorrow cleaning up after this storm. You should get to bed soon too."

"Will do!" I mock-saluted. She laughed and quietly made her way past the girls' room to her own.

In a better world and in a better situation, I wouldn't be surprised if there could be something between us. In all honesty, I'd be lying if I said I thought there was nothing between us now, but for now our priority number one was taking care of these girls and staying hidden. Still, Monika was the kind of person I wouldn't mind spending more time with…

My thoughts were interrupted by a sound that made my heart freeze, despite the warm fire. At first I thought it could have been thunder; I prayed it was just thunder. Then it came again.

 _Someone was pounding on the door_.

Slowly, I got to my feet, trying not to make any noise (not that anyone would be able to hear it over the storm anyways). I moved over to the window, trying to get a view of whoever was knocking. The angle wasn't great; I could only see the person's side and some of their back. I squinted into the darkness, trying to make out their features. They seemed tall, probably a man, bundled in a thick raincoat. They seemed to be holding something, but it was too dark to see what it was…

Lightning cracked across the sky, thunder following moments later. In the brief flash of light, the twin barrels of a shotgun glinted at me from the figure's shoulder.

I took a deep breath, trying to calm my nerves. Should I ignore him and hope he went away? Should I confront him? Should I shoot him now through the window while he didn't know?

"Hello?" a deep, muffled voice came through the door. "Anyone in there? I'm stranded and it's cold out here! Let me in, will ya'?"

I relaxed ever so slightly. It could still be some sort of trick, but if they wanted to get the drop on us they could have just tried to knock the door down, right? I carefully went over to the door, grabbing my gun on my way over and making sure it was loaded. I wasn't going to be taking any more risks than I had to.

I placed my hand on the knob, took a deep breath, then opened the door. The man on the other side was tall, broad-shouldered, and had short, thick, brown beard with matching eyebrows. Put him in a red plaid shirt and he'd nearly be your generic lumberjack. He was shivering, even under the heavy raincoat, and the look on his face was pure relief.

"Ah, so someone is home!" his voice boomed, "I'm much obliged, may I come in?" His eyebrows rose slightly when he saw my gun, but he made no comment on it.

I was taken a little aback by his forceful friendliness, but I quickly recovered and, after hesitating a moment at the gun still on his shoulder, gestured for him to come in. "Sorry for the wait, it's not often you get visitors when you live out here."

"I can see why! I had no idea anyone lived out here!" his laugh was just as deep as his voice, and I cringed a little, knowing everyone was probably awake by now. "I'm thankful you do, otherwise I'd have had to find a bush to sleep under!"

"Ah, that wouldn't be a very pleasant way to spend tonight, would it?"

"It definitely would not!" Another big laugh.

This man was making a huge puddle on the entryway floor. Monika would not be happy, but the bigger problem was that he found us. How had he found us? Had he simply stumbled across us in the storm, or had he been looking?

"So how did you happen to run across my little place here anyways?" I did my best to keep my voice level but friendly, and I directed him on where to hang his coat, where to put his boots, and where to prop his gun.

"Now that's an unfortunate story!" he said as he made his way over to one of the chairs near the fire, "You see, I was out here hunting when the rain started," he gestured to his gun, "and I think I decided to stick around a little too long. The road back there turned into a muddy mess and I managed to get my truck stuck!"

"Do you need help getting it out?" _The less time this man was here, the better._

"In this rain? Naw! Whatever you brought out there to pull it out would get just as stuck as it is! Best bet is to wait until morning when this rain is gone."

So he wanted to stay the night. That would make things even more difficult.

"Oh!" he exclaimed, "I haven't even bothered to introduce myself! My name's Gerald, though most people call me Jerry!" He held out a big, meaty hand.

I hesitated, trying to figure out how I should introduce myself, then decided on the first name that came to mind and took his hand. "I'm Chase. Nice to meet you Jerry!"

"Chase, ey? And how did you come to live around here? You could've hardly picked a place more in the middle of nowhere!"

I shrugged, "I've never really liked people I guess." _It was almost true. There was just a very specific group of people I didn't care for._

"Ah, the old hermit type then?" He winked and I obliged him with a laugh.

"You could say that, I guess."

"I see you like guns too!" He said, gesturing to my gun which I'd propped against a wall not far away. "That's not exactly a hunting piece. What do you use that one for?"

He was observant, I'd give him that. "Eh, it's more for recreational shooting than anything else."

"Ah, I see! I have a few guns like that myself, believe it or not!"

He casually reached into his shirt, instantly putting me on edge. Was it a gun? Some sort of radio to call us in? I kept myself from reaching for my own gun long enough to see what he pulled out.

His hand emerged grasping a large flask, and I did my best to keep from sighing audibly with relief. (I guess I was a little paranoid after all.) He uncapped it and took a few big gulps. I didn't know what was in it, but judging by his reaction it was something significantly stronger than water.

"Ah, a fire to warm the body and a good drink to warm the soul! What more could a man ask for?"

I laughed along half-heartedly but he didn't seem to notice. This man was getting a little to boisterous for my tastes, and he didn't seem like he was going to stop any time soon. But what could I do?

The next ten minutes consisted mostly of him cracking jokes, talking about hunting, and always following whatever he said up with a big drink from his flask. He was progressively getting louder and louder and his jokes made less and less sense, but I wasn't sure how to stop him. Funny, I could storm a complex full of armed guards with nothing more than a little PDW and the element of surprise, but I couldn't keep this one man from drinking himself silly and making trouble for us.

Just then, Monika came around the corner. The look I gave her practically screamed 'help me out here!' She nodded slightly.

"Hello there!" She greeted the big man with a friendly smile.

"Ah! It looks like Chase here has a lovely lady living with him in the middle of nowhere!" His grin was slightly lop-sided but still seemed genuinely friendly. At least he mentioned my new fake name so Monika knew it.

"Ahaha, well, thank you! But I think it's time that Chase here got some rest. It's been a long day, after all. Maybe you should as well? We don't have much to offer, but there's a couch over there that you can pull up to the fire!"

"That idea doesn't sound half-bad!" He laughed again. Monika smiled, waved, and went back around the corner. Good grief that was absolutely flawless.

I was about to get up to follow when Jerry's voice stopped me. "That's a lovely wife you've got there. You're a lucky man, Chase, I'll tell you that!"

"She's-uh-not my…" I stammered. I'm clearly not as gifted with people as Monika is, if it isn't painfully obvious already.

The big man's eyebrows nearly merged with his curly hair. "Oh? Well what are you waiting for?!"

"I.. umm…"

I noticed he was no longer looking at me, but he instead was focused on something behind me. I turned around just in time to see a few strands of peach-colored hair disappear around the corner. Oh come on.

I looked back at Jerry, but he wasn't smiling anymore. "Now I don't like to judge the habits of others…" he trailed off, his eyes fixed somewhere in the distance.

"If I recall correctly," he began again after a long pause, still looking away, "there was talk of missing girls a while back. Was told that a man and a woman kidnapped 'em and shot up some innocent folks while they were at it, then disappeared." His eyes landed on me again, but all the friendliness was gone from them.

I tried to stay calm. "Look, I haven't exactly been staying up to date with the rumors around here, but I assure you…"

The big man had grabbed his shotgun off the wall. "Ok, Chase," he growled from somewhere deep in his chest, "Let's try this all again, and this time you're telling me the truth."

 _Easy there, John. Breath. You can handle this. There's only a giant of a man pointing a shotgun at you from about a foot away. Nothing you can't handle._

"Look, can we talk about this without the gun?"

"Oh we'll talk alright, but I'm keeping the gun right where it is, thank you very much."

"Ok, ok. I'm watching these girls for my brother who's out of town for the week. He asked us to keep an eye on them and…" I realized my mistake too late.

Jerry rose to his feet, towering over me and leveling the shotgun at my head. "You don't think I know everyone in every small town anywhere near here?! This is the middle of nowhere! Now get out of that chair and down on your knees! You're done hiding from justice!"

I didn't see a way out. If I tried anything funny, he wasn't exactly going to miss at that range with a shotgun, and if he didn't, there'd be very little left of me to regret it. I slowly stood up from the chair with my hands up. He forced me to the center of the room and down onto my knees, then he called out, "Hey pretty lady! If you don't want your friend here blown to kingdom-come, you'd best get out here with your hands up and do it quick!"

In moments, Monika appeared, hands in the air but jaw set in defiance. "What on earth are you doing?"

"Sorry lady, but I'm onto your little game here and I'm going to need you to get on your knees with your friend. If you want to make trouble, he'll feel it."

Monika's face went pale, but she slowly joined me, kneeling in the center of the room. I glanced at her and our eyes met. I gave her my best "everything will be ok" smile, but I don't think it came across as very convincing.

"Alright kids, you can come out now! You're safe!" The man's bellow echoed throughout the house. I tensed, fists clenched and looking for an opening, but he kept the shotgun trained on us and never looked away. He even positioned himself so that he could watch the corner where the girls would come around without taking his eyes off us. I will admit, I was slightly impressed. He knew what he was doing and executed it well.

For what felt like an eternity we waited. Then, from around the corner, Natsuki emerged, shakily holding my pistol and aiming it at the big man. She was clearly terrified, but her jaw was set and she was doing her best to hold herself together. Sayori slowly peaked around the corner, and Yuri emerged to stand behind Natsuki, hugging herself tightly and not making eye contact with anyone.

"Put the gun down, kid," the big man addressed Natsuki, "I'm here to help you, ok? I saved you!" He was grinning with triumph.

"They saved us! Not you!" Natsuki squeaked. It was obvious that she had wanted to sound more forceful, but it didn't really turn out that way.

Jerry looked down at us, disgust in his eyes, "You brainwashed 'em too, eh? You two are some of the most disgusting excuses for people I've ever met," he spat on the floor in front of us.

"Kid, put the gun down. You don't know how to shoot it and you'll probably hurt someone. I'm not gonna ask again." Seeing Natsuki hesitate, he added, "If it's not on the floor in five seconds, these two are gonna get hurt, understand?"

The gun clattered to the floor and Natsuki retreated into Yuri, her face hidden behind her hands.

"Good job kid, good choice. Now, I know these people have said some really nice things to you and you think they're your friends, but they're not. Come with me and I'll make sure you're all safe and taken care of. I'll get you right back to where they took you from and you'll be all safe and sound! Doesn't that sound great?"

 _Oh god. Really poor choice of words, my friend._

Sayori retreated back around the corner, crying and hugging her cow, Natsuki curled into a ball on the floor, whimpering, and Yuri…

Wait, what was Yuri doing…?

She stood perfectly still, head down, eyes closed. She hardly seemed to be breathing.

Then she looked up.

Never before had I seen death itself in someone's eyes. Not fiery hatred, not hollow emptiness, but simply… death. Yuri's eyes blazed with it.

Slowly, Yuri began to walk towards the man, her lavender eyes never leaving his, never blinking, never wavering for even a second. There was something horribly unnatural about it, in her gaze, in her perfectly smooth movement, in her absolute silence.

For a good few seconds, Jerry just stood there, open-mouthed. I must not be the only one who saw it. "Kid, hold on there. Just hold on a moment! Stop! Don't come any closer!"

Yuri's pace didn't slow in the slightest, her steady, deliberate strides slowly closing the distance between her and… _her target._

Jerry began backing away into the corner of the room, now training his shotgun on the approaching girl. "Don't come any closer! I'm warning you! I'll shoot!"

Still Yuri approached, never wavering. She had him backed into a corner now.

"Last warning, kid!"

I remained there, frozen. I couldn't move, couldn't act, couldn't do anything but sit and watch what unfolded.

I watched Yuri approach the cornered man.

I watched the man shakily aim directly at her chest.

I saw the fear and panic on his face.

I watched his finger begin to depress the trigger.

I couldn't watch anymore. I closed my eyes, looked away, and waited for the inevitable.

A gunshot erupted in the little cabin, rattling the windowpanes and making my ears ring. At the same time, there were two screams. A scream of intense pain from across the room, and a scream from Monika right next to me. I didn't want to open my eyes. I didn't want to see what had happened. I wanted to melt into the floor. After all this, I'd let one of the three people I'd sworn to protect die because I had been helpless and unprepared. I never should have opened that door. It was a mistake that had cost Yuri her life. How could I live with that?

I had to do it eventually. Slowly, I opened my eyes and forced myself to look up. Simultaneously, my jaw dropped.

There was Yuri, standing there, perfectly still, looking down at the body of the man formerly known as Gerald. He wasn't moving, but I had no idea what had happened. There was no blood anywhere, nothing to indicate he had been wounded. Just Yuri. Standing there.

Slowly, shakily, I rose to my feet.

Instantly, Yuri turned to face me, the same expression in her eyes.

"Yuri?"

She began walking towards me.

Perfectly smooth.

Perfectly silent.

Her death gaze never leaving my eyes.

I could really easily lie right now and say that I reacted cooly and calmly and had the situation under control in no time. But no, if I'm being completely honest, I was inches away from wetting myself. Seeing her go after another person was horrifying enough, but watching her slowly approach you was * _completely_ * different.

"Yuri, Yuri, wait. You know me. John. You know me, right?"

I was starting to panic. You would too, I guarantee it. There was something about that gaze that incited fear to an extent that I've never felt it before. My life has been threatened on many occasions, I've been nearly discovered many times during my stay in hell, and I've seen things that no human being should ever even have to imagine, but never before has such raw fear coursed through me. It wasn't natural or right.

Suddenly, a soft, calm voice broke through it all.

"Yuri. Stop. We're your friends. We're your family. You know us. Remember that. Remember us."

 _Monika._

Yuri froze.

I watched her gaze gradually soften, her body relax, and the fear began to leave me.

She looked around, confused.

Then her eyes landed on the body of Jerry. She stood there a moment, looked down at her hands as if they were detestable things, then collapsed to the floor, sobbing.

I too collapsed to my knees. The fear was gone, and in its place was pure relief.

I watched Monika slowly approach Yuri, crouch down, and place a hand gently on her back.

" _No!_ " Yuri's scream jolted me to my senses, " _Don't touch me!_ "

It was more of a plea than a command, but Monika instantly recoiled, confusion in her eyes. Yuri backed herself up against a wall and hugged her knees, hiding her face.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw another figure approaching. A small figure with peach-colored hair, tightly clutching a stuffed cow. Carefully, the figure crouched down next to Yuri and sat there for a moment, not saying anything.

Then she held out her cow to the sobbing girl.

"Mr Cow always makes me feel better," it was little more than a whisper, but her soft, sweet voice spoke with such kindness and sincerity that it nearly brought tears to my eyes.

Slowly, Yuri looked up, but she couldn't seem to meet Sayori's eyes.

"B-But I h-hurt him…"

Sayori smiled, "It's ok, he forgives you." She pressed the cow into Yuri's arms.

Carefully, gently, Yuri held the little stuffed cow. "T-Thank you Mr Cow," she whispered after a long pause.

"He says you're welcome," Sayori beamed.

She gently placed a hand on Yuri's shoulder, and this time Yuri didn't recoil.

They remained that way for some time, Sayori's gentle presence comforting the sobbing Yuri who was still carefully holding the little cow, her tears being absorbed by its soft fur. None of us had the heart to interrupt for a long time.

I carefully made my way over to Natsuki, who was still curled up on the floor, and did my best to comfort her, gently running a hand along her back and telling her that everything was alright.

After a long while, I noticed that Monika had joined the two other girls, and Yuri seemed to be starting to relax. By now, Natsuki was clinging to my arm, and I could see she was doing her best not to cry.

It was horrible to see what even the idea of going back to that horrible place did to them. I'd never let them, not as long as I was still breathing.

Sometime later, Monika managed to coax Yuri back to her bed where I believe she passed out almost instantly from a combination of stress and exhaustion. I carried Natsuki back to her own bed, and gently tucked her in. She wordlessly held out her hand to me the same way she had when I left her in the hallway of the compound, the same fear and worry in her eyes. I gently took it and gave it a squeeze. "I'm not going anywhere, I promise. And I won't let anyone take you. I promise that too."

"Thank you," she whispered. I gave her hand another squeeze, kissed her forehead, and left the room before I could start tearing up.

As much as I'd have liked to go right to bed, there was still a body that had to be dealt with. Monika already seemed on the verge of a panic attack, so after sitting with her for a while, I helped her to bed and set myself the the task of figuring out what to do with poor Jerry.

He did indeed turn out to be thoroughly dead, but as it was still storming outside with no sign of it letting up any time soon, I decided that burying him would have to wait until morning. In the meantime, I hoped to get some answers.

No gunshot wounds, no stab wounds, he didn't even have a single bruise to show for his encounter with Yuri. I'd only closed my eyes for what could have been at most thirty seconds, yet he had gone from very much alive to very incredibly dead in what sounded like an instant. There was no way in hell that it had been natural outside of some fast-acting poison or something, but that was pretty much out of the question. Maybe all this "Third Eye" bullshit had some weight to it after all. That would explain the fear I felt. That hadn't been anything even remotely close to natural either.

I mean, I knew Yuri was dangerous in the right circumstances. I'd known that for almost two and a half years now, but I'd always been under the impression that it was because of her unstable nature. In all honesty, I would never have gone after her in our little escape if Monika hadn't practically begged me to, and up until now Yuri hadn't even seemed the least bit dangerous. I was even beginning to doubt what I'd seen in the hallway that night.

No, Yuri was dangerous alright, but not intentionally. That hadn't been her pulling the strings back there, that had been something else. Something unnatural. Something with the power to take over a person's mind and to kill with sheer proximity. Something very real and very serious.

Another thing that worried me was the buckshot on the floor. Yah, killing someone through proximity or whatever is some serious stuff, but whatever had happened while I had my eyes closed was really something else. There was a perfectly straight line of 12-gauge buckshot on the floor, as if it had all hit a solid wall and fallen to the floor, except this was the middle of the room. That amount of lead fired from a shotgun at that close range should have absolutely annihilated Yuri, but instead the little lead pellets of death seemed to have decided to form a nice little line and settle down onto the floor. Again, very unnatural, but I'm sensing a theme here.

I woke up bright and early the next morning to bury Jerry. I picked a nice spot on the edge of our little clearing and dug my best attempt at a makeshift grave for him. I decided against marking it, for many reasons, but I did carve a little message into a tree nearby. Who knows, maybe some day someone will find it and have some closure. I didn't know if this guy had a family or friends or how soon he'd be missed. There were a lot of things I didn't know, I decided, and they weren't worth driving myself insane over.

I did manage to find his truck after about an hour of searching, and he wasn't joking about having a few guns for "recreational purposes." The guy had an arsenal that would make any elite army squadron turn tail and run for the hills. The truck was quite the beast itself, with huge tires, no shortage of horsepower, and even a camouflage paintjob. Thankfully, I'd thought to borrow Jerry's keys before I buried him, and I don't think he'll be needing his truck anymore. I guess things weren't all bad after all.

Sayori and Natsuki were up earlier than usual, both admitting to having nightmares. It was easy to see that they were both on-edge. Sayori carried her cow around even more than usual, if that were possible, and her smile seemed slightly more forced. Natsuki did her best to hide everything, a response she apparently finds natural, but she did tend to stick very close to Monika or I under the pretense of not wanting to sit around in her room all day and be useless.

Yuri, on the other hand, slept like a rock until sometime in the mid-afternoon. When she did get up, she was so quiet that I almost didn't notice. Sayori spent plenty of time with her, and combined with the attention Monika gave her, she started to open up slightly. Nobody talked about the previous night, though everyone kept glancing at the place on the floor where Jerry had lain.

I've decided to take this "Third Eye" seriously from now on. I know, it seems slightly strange that I could serve three years as a doctor in what was essentially a cult and still not know what the whole thing was about, but if these people are good at one thing, it's keeping secrets. My job was to patch up what they broke and nothing more. They gave me just enough information for me to feel like I knew what was going on, but not enough that I actually did.

I may be taking this seriously, but that doesn't change my commitment to protecting these girls. They were clearly hurt in more ways than even I understand, but that just means that they need that much more care and protection.

Yuri has it, do the others? And how would we know? How many more powers is this strange force hiding?

Again, more questions with no answers.

I'm hoping we all get plenty of time to settle down and figure this all out.

See you all on the other side.

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 **Author's Note:** This chapter is slightly different from the previous one, I know. Trust me, I'm going somewhere with this. Yes, it took a while for me to finish and post this part, but college is busy and I've been busy working on where I want to take this story. I think you guys may like what I came up with, but I guess we'll see!

Thanks for all the support on the last chapter! Please let me know if you spot any errors or have any feedback for me! I'm writing this partially to practice writing, and if you see ways I could get better, please share them with me!


	3. Runaway

**Author's Note:** If you haven't guessed already, I'm still developing/learning my writing style, so I apologize if anything is inconstant or anything. Plus, I've never written a car chase before, so this was fun. Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoy! This is my longest chapter yet!

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 **I stood, staring down the shadow-man, gun aimed at his chest. He stood, unarmed, smiling. His smile. All I could see was his smile. All I could see was him. Everything else was a blur of red and black. My hands shook as I stared at him. This man was evil, I knew it, but he also held something important. He knew what I needed to know. What was it? Why couldn't I just shoot him? Would he even die if I did?**

 **"Ah, I see you brought another! Well done!" his laugh reverberated unnaturally around the shadow room, echoing back both quieter and louder at the same time. He spoke to someone next to me. I couldn't turn my head to see, but I knew they were a friend. Someone I owed something to.**

 **Then he looked at me. I could see his eyes without seeing them, and they stared right through me, into my soul. He knew me. His smile was sickening.**

 **"So, how's the family? Doing well, I hope. I know you've met them by now," his smile grew impossibly wide, "You know the truth, now don't you?"**

 **Shock. Fear. Horror. Anger. Disbelief. A flood of emotions. I took a step back and nearly dropped my gun. My hands were shaking uncontrollably. I was shaking. No. This wasn't right. He shouldn't know. He couldn't know. There was no way he could know.**

 **He was still smiling. He knew what he was doing. He was messing with me. I knew it. Anger surged through me. Rage. I raised my gun.**

 **A knife plunged into my back. Pain. Searing, burning, deadly pain. My gun clattered to the shadowy floor, the sound echoing back louder and louder until it sounded like the inside of a hurricane. The pain and the noise blurred my senses.**

 **A hand gripped my shoulder, and another man's face filled my vision. I hated him. I hated him with a passion. But he had won. He had finally won. Desperately, dying, I spun and lashed out, ripping the hand off my shoulder in a final effort to make this man hurt like he had made me hurt.**

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 **NTIgNDggNGEgNmMgNTkgNTcgMzEgN2EgNDkgNDcgNDYgNzkgNWEgNTMgNDIgNzYgNWEgNmUgNTIgNmMgNjIgNjkgNDIgMzMgNjEgNTcgMzUgNmIgNjIgMzMgNjQgN2EgNDkgNDcgNmMgNzUgNjQgNDcgMzggNjcgNjQgNDcgNjggNmMgNDkgNDcgNWEgMzEgNjQgNDggNTYgNzkgNWEgNTEgM2QgM2Q=**

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I sat up so fast I nearly did a front-flip out of bed. I spun around to look behind me, only to be met with the wall of the cabin. No evil man, no knife, just a wall.

I tried to calm my breathing. I could still faintly feel the searing pain of the knife in my back. "Only a dream. It was only a dream."

It took a good few minutes for my rattled nerves to settle down. Sure, I'd had nightmares before (with what I've seen, they're pretty much guaranteed), but nothing like this. Just another thing to add to the list of unnatural occurrences. Then again, it had been only three days since our little incident with Jerry and we were all still pretty shaken up about it, so maybe that was it.

Then why did something feel so wrong? All the other sensations from the dream were fading away, but still I had the distinct and powerful feeling that something was very wrong. It was so tangible that it felt like a physical presence. Like I could reach out and touch it. I didn't know what it was, but I had to find out.

I jumped out of bed, threw on some clothes, and ventured out into the hall. There was Monika's room, but for some reason I knew it didn't have anything to do with her. The girls' room was where I was headed. The fact that I knew that worried me even more.

I gently opened the door to the girls' room and poked my head inside. Sayori seemed to be sleeping peacefully in her bed nearest the door, and Natsuki in the next bed seemed to be mumbling to herself in her sleep. Then my eyes landed on Yuri. She was sitting up in bed, staring out the window, as still as if she were carved out of granite.

I froze. Was this what I thought it was, or was it something else? Should I close the door and try not to attract her attention, or should I investigate further? Should I—?

"He's coming," she turned her head and looked me in the eyes. Her eyes were soft, but I could see a mix of fear and confusion in them.

I quietly opened the door, trying not to disturb the others, and went over to Yuri's bed. "Who is?"

She froze, as if racking her brain for an answer. When she spoke, her voice shook. "Dr. L. He's coming," she grabbed my hand and I could feel her hands shaking, "We have to go. Now!"

I couldn't believe it. I didn't want to believe it. But still… "Are you sure?"

"Yes!" No hesitation, no second-guessing, she was certain. I didn't know how, but she was.

From one nightmare right into another.

Great, time to move.

"Get the others up. Tell them to pack essentials and a few changes of clothes. Dress warm. We leave in 15 minutes. I'll get Monika."

She nodded and I rushed out the door, not caring anymore about being quiet. Waking up Monika and getting her up to speed on everything took about five minutes, after which I scrambled off to my own room to get my stuff together. From the other rooms, I could hear the others doing the same. I sincerely hoped that Yuri was wrong, but we couldn't take the chance. If she was right, I had no idea how long we had. We had to move quickly.

I threw a pair of jeans and a few shirts into a backpack, strapped on my pistol, and slung my gun over my shoulder. Monika was in charge of the food, and I could hear her rummaging around in the kitchen. As much as we never wanted it to happen, we were at least slightly prepared for a situation like this. Having some idea of how long we had would have been very helpful, but we'd have to work with what we knew.

Backpack over my shoulders and gun in hand, I strode outside and scanned my surroundings. The forest around our clearing was dark, and I could only see so far into the trees. Everything appeared to be clear, but I couldn't be certain. Either way, I had to get the truck ready, but I made sure to keep one eye on the tree-line at all times.

I threw my backpack into the bed of the truck. There were already a few items there, things I always made sure where in there, just in case. There were two tents, a crate that contained all of Jerry's arsenal (sans a few rifles I kept in the jeep), a small tool chest, and a hefty axe. In the event of an escape, we had planned on using both the truck and the jeep, with me driving the truck and Monika taking the Jeep. We'd have most of our supplies in the truck, and the jeep would carry Monika and two of the girls. Our little sedan had been our initial plan for a second vehicle, but it didn't do so great on the terrain out here.

I made sure both vehicles were fueled up and ready to go, double-checked Jerry's arsenal, and was just starting the truck when the girls rushed outside, all carrying their stuff and looking very worried. Monika carried a large box which I assumed to be our food supply, and Yuri was carrying a cooler. I helped quickly place each of the containers in the back of the truck, tied them down, then closed the tailgate.

Monika was holding up remarkably well under the stress, and I was thankful for it. Now was not the time for a panic attack. I pulled her aside for a moment.

"Remember, I'll lead and you follow. If we're being chased, I'll drop back and act as cover. I'll pull to the side and you floor it to get past. Understand?"

"Yah, got it."

"You going to be ok?"

"Yah, don't worry about me, I'll hold up as long as I need to."

Judging by her expression, she meant what she said and I had no doubt she'd pull it off if everything went well. I prayed everything would go well.

I hopped into the cabin of the truck and was met by Natsuki, already settling into the passenger seat, backpack at her feet. Her expression was nothing short of fierce. "What are we waiting for? Let's go already!"

In spite of everything, I almost laughed, "Not a bad idea, actually." I shifted the truck into gear and swung the nose around to face the driveway. Behind me, I saw the jeep's headlights flair to life. I waited for Monika to pull up behind me, then double-checked our radio, the little green light on the dashboard indicating that we were indeed connected.

"Everything good back there, Monnie?"

"Yes, and I told you not to call me that!"

"Hey, just trying to lighten the mood."

"Just shut up and drive," she nearly laughed. That's good, keep things light. It's difficult to have a panic attack if you're laughing. Everything's going to be fine.

I pulled forward onto the driveway, then hung a right to follow the winding road, my headlights blazing into the darkness. It wasn't long until we were on the old, overgrown dirt road that served as the end of our driveway. In reality, it was less of a road and more of a straight clearing in the trees. It was a miracle we had gotten the sedan over it the first time. After that, it wasn't long until we managed to get the jeep.

Suddenly, from the darkness of the trees on the right side of the road, a deer leapt onto the road in front of us. I slammed on the breaks, the gravel and lose earth crunching and slipping under the tires. We stopped just short of the deer, which promptly bounded off into the woods. Monika swerved around us, unable to stop short enough to avoid hitting us, and stopped a few yards ahead of us.

I let out a sigh of relief, and heard a similar sigh from Natsuki. She had pressed herself into her seat, though when she saw me looking she immediately relaxed and tried to play it off.

The radio crackled, "Give me a little warning next time you decide to get friendly with the breaks, ok?"

"Isn't that what break lights are for?" I retorted.

"Fine, fine. Let's just go."

"Roger that."

I accelerated past Monika who pulled back onto the road behind me. If that were the most noteworthy incident of our little adventure, I'd be happy.

Did we have a destination in mind? Yes and no. Our priority #1 was to get away from the cabin as quickly and safely as possible. We did have a general area several miles from here where we planned to set up camp, but nothing super specific. With our supplies, any little gap in the trees could be transformed into a safe haven in about 20 minutes. If we got separated, we planned on meeting at a specific point as soon as possible and to maintain radio contact if possible. Ideally, we'd stick together and arrive safely with no incident, but we had to plan for everything. Or at least, everything we could.

There were times on the narrow trail that I had to slow to nearly a crawl in order to guide the large truck through the trees, while the smaller jeep behind us was able to navigate the forest with much more ease. Finally, the trees opened up around us and we reached the end of the trail, a large, unused field. We would be exposed here, but as far as I could see, there was no danger anywhere. There was about a quarter-mile to go until we would be on a road that was actually paved, and once we were there we would have plenty of options and be able to travel much faster.

"Remember, nice and easy, Monnie. Try not to get stuck."

The only response was a sigh, and I couldn't tell if it was exasperated, sarcastic, or both. I was just trying to keep some sort of communication going, even if it was sarcastic.

As I crossed the field, the truck's big tires easily kept it from sinking too far into the loose dirt. The jeep, while still good at off-roading, struggled slightly more, so I slowed down to stick close to Monika.

I glanced over at Natsuki and saw her looking out the window and up at the stars. The night was clear and we were far from any lights, so the sky was ablaze with them. She seemed peaceful, so I didn't disturb her. There was a serene air about her, and I could see the starlight reflected in her eyes.

The truck bounced smoothly on its suspension as I eased it up and onto the road. We had made it safely, but before I had a chance to breathe a sigh of relief I noticed headlights from a third vehicle not far down the road, heading towards us at high speed. The driver must have noticed us too, and in a moment, red and blue lights were flashing. What flawless timing.

The car was maybe thirty seconds away, tops, and Monika still hadn't gotten onto the road. There was no way we'd be able to get going soon enough to actually get away, and I'd rather avoid a car-chase if possible. Plus, it was just a cop. As far as I'm aware, the worst we could be penalized for would be trespassing, and that could easily be explained away.

I picked up the radio handset, "Looks like we've got a cop headed our way."

The jeep rolled to a stop, just short of the road, "No, no, no, no, no, oh no, oh no—"

"Monika! It's fine! I can handle this, just get on the road and pull over ahead of me. Just stay calm and we'll make it just fine."

Silence. Then, the jeep carefully accelerated and climbed its way onto the road, stopping just ahead of us.

"Is it _them?_ " Natsuki peeked over the back of her seat at the fast approaching cop car.

"No, it's just a cop. He's just coming to check if everything's ok. Nothing to worry about!" I gave her a reassuring smile, partially reassuring myself with it. She smiled in return, but promptly went back to watching the approaching car.

It felt like an eternity when in reality it was probably only a few seconds, but finally the cop car reached us, slowed, and pulled up in front of Monika. I had been hoping they would pull up behind us, but it hopefully wouldn't be a big deal. In a moment, the officer stepped out of their car, and I responded by exiting mine. I didn't want him going to talk to Monika; she was already flustered as it was.

"Good evening, officer!"

"Good evening!" The voice was stern, but not unfriendly. He was slightly shorter than me, but he was sturdily-built and moved with confidence. "I saw you both driving across that field there and thought I should check it out. Any explanation?"

We met near the rear of the jeep, and I leaned on it, trying to look casual, "We were out camping, but we got a call and needed to head back early. We just took the direct route."

"Hm. Disappointing when that kind of thing happens, I know," he had his hands in his pockets and was leaning on the jeep himself. "You mind if I take a look in the back of your truck?"

"Sure, I don't see why not."

I turned to lead the way, but a small click made me spin back around just in time to see the man's sidearm leveled at my head, a grin on his face. "Sayonara, doctor," he spat.

A gunshot rang out, and the man's expression twisted into one of excruciating pain before he stumbled and fell forward onto the pavement, blood beginning to pool around him. There was Monika, leaning out of the window of the jeep, a pistol still aimed at the man's body. For a moment, we both stared at each other in silence.

"So you had it under control?" Ouch. I guess I deserved it for how much I'd picked on her already.

"I guess I owe you a thank you."

She gave me a very tight-lipped smile, "Shall we get going?"

"Hold on just a moment."

I made my way over the apparently fake cop car and looked in the window. The car itself was nothing out of the ordinary, but on the passenger seat a small tablet lay. It appeared to be displaying a GPS map of some sort. I leaned in and grabbed it. Sure enough, it was a map of the area with a small triangular icon to indicate the user's current location… but there were at least two dozen other triangles… and they were all headed—

I threw the tablet on the ground, drew my sidearm, and fired several bullets into it. I turned and sprinted back to the truck, swearing under my breath. "Monika! We have to move! Now! I'll catch up!"

"What is it?"

"They know where we are. A few of them are about a two minutes out at best. Go!"

"Where?"

"East! Most of them are coming from the west!"

As I jumped into the truck's cabin, Monika floored it and went flying off down the road.

Natsuki had a death grip on her armrest and looked extremely pale in the starlight, "Was he—?"

"Yah, he was. We've got time though. Just hold on tight."

"But—!" she was cut off and pressed back into her seat as I pressed the gas pedal nearly to the floor. The engine roared and we shot away, kicking up gravel and dust as we went. I could see the taillights of the jeep ahead of us, but we were a long ways behind.

The radio crackled to life again, "Sayori has a map and says that there is a branch in the road up ahead! You said they were coming mostly from the west?"

"Yah, that's what it looked like," I did my best to hold the handset in one hand while also not driving into a ditch. Natsuki wordlessly took the handset from me and held up so that I could speak into it without taking my hands off the wheel. I smiled a quick thanks.

"Well, then it looks like we're going to have to take a left up here! Careful, it's pretty sharp."

"Copy that!"

It wasn't long until we reached the branch Monika was talking about. Monika slowed down significantly in order to take it safely, so I managed to catch up slightly. As we made the turn, I saw headlights in the distance reflected in my mirrors. Left had been the right choice, but they almost certainly saw us now.

"Floor it!"

"Already doing that!" came through the radio static.

We were already hitting 85-90 on a road only intended for about 60 tops, so every little bump was testing our suspension and jostling us around. The lights behind us seemed to get closer and closer, and I became increasingly worried. Whatever they were driving, it was much faster than us.

"Another branch ahead!" Sayori's voice came through the radio, "Three ways this time!"

"Anything other than west!" I called back while Natsuki tried to steady her arm and keep the receiver close enough to my face.

"Ok! Does straight look good…?" She must have put down the handset but have forgotten to stop transmitting because all I heard was faint voices through the static. Sayori returned, "Ok, Straight leads to a town and we don't want to go to a town so we'll have to go left agai—"

"No! We go to the town!" Monika's voice rang clear through the receiver.

I was taken aback, "Monika! You know they've been spreading rumors! It'll be dangerous there!"

"Yes, but it'll be dangerous for _them_ too," she replied smoothly. "I'm sure people there will be more reasonable than the people behind us, at least!"

I couldn't argue with that. It was certainly a risk, but it appeared to be a necessary one, verified by the fact that the headlights behind us were indeed getting much closer. As dangerous as it would be for us to be around people, the people behind us had a whole lot more to hide than we did, and a whole lot more to lose if they did decide to follow us.

"Let's do it! Lead the way, Sayori!"

"Roger that!" a little nervous laugh floated into the cabin through the radio.

"Intersection coming up!" Monika warned.

Sure enough, in the beams of our headlights I could see a nice 4-way intersection. I was still about a quarter mile behind Monika. For a moment, everything seemed fine.

Then, out of the shadows, a black HUMVEE emerged and parked itself in the intersection. Its lights blazed to life, blinding in the darkness, and the occupants of the vehicle began to emerge, all carrying firearms and all in very familiar guard uniforms. Monika managed to swerve around the shadowy vehicle, leaving a cloud of smoke from the jeep's tires behind her, but before I could reach the intersection and do the same, another shadowy HUMVEE pulled into the intersection from the other direction, blocking it completely.

"Hang on!" I shouted and cranked the wheel as far to the right as I could while pumping the breaks. I could hear the screeching tires and smell burning rubber as we screamed around the corner. I felt the right wheels begin to leave the pavement and heard Natsuki scream. My heart sank and I braced myself for the inevitable.

If we didn't die in the rollover, it wouldn't be hard for the guards to pick up whatever was left of us. I forced myself to keep my eyes open and on the road, though I knew it was useless. The truck was top-heavy and we were going around too sharp a corner at too high a speed.

Then, abruptly, the wheels connected solidly with the pavement again. The jolt was so strong and so unexpected that I almost lost my grip on the wheel, but I recovered quickly. I wasn't sure how we'd survived that, but I wasn't about to stick around to find out. I floored the accelerator and sped away as the first of the bullets began to whizz past us.

"John! John! Are you ok? Please tell me you're ok!" Monika's voice came from the radio.

"Yah! Yah, we made it! We're going to have to find another way! Just… Just find somewhere safe in town. Somewhere with people. Try not to talk or draw too much attention if you don't have to. I promise we'll find our way to you and meet you as soon as we can."

"John… be safe, ok?"

"Will do, Monnie."

"I said don't ca—!"

The radio static rose and overwhelmed her voice and the green light on the dashboard flickered out. We were out of range now. All I could do was drive. Thankfully, it appeared as though the roadblock behind us was more effective on the vehicles pursuing us than it was on us, and we were gaining some serious ground on them as they slowed to navigate it. We had a little room to breathe.

"Where are we going now?" Natsuki asked after a pause.

"Give me a moment, I'm figuring that out."

Thoughts ran through my head faster than we were flying down the road. There was no way we could turn around and follow Monika into town. We were still being pursued and they hadn't lost us yet, so we couldn't stop to figure it out. Clearly whatever the pursuing vehicles were, they were faster than this truck, so we couldn't run forever. In fact, we probably couldn't run for very long at all. We had to figure out something, and quick. Come on, John! Think! What else is there around here that we could use to lose them…?

"The freeway!" I said out of nowhere, making Natsuki jump.

"The what?"

Oh yah, she'd never seen a freeway before. There were a lot of things she hadn't seen, actually. This would be interesting.

"You'll see! It's just a few miles ahead of us. If we get on it, they won't be able to follow without drawing attention to themselves!"

"Oh! Well can't you go any faster?"

"Not unless you want to get acquainted with the insides of a ditch!"

She gave me a sour look, but I stayed focused on the road ahead.

The next few miles were an incredibly tense silence as we flew down the road, being jostled by every bump and watching the headlights behind us get closer and closer. It wasn't long before the headlights ceased to be one spot of light and separated into two separate beams. They were close, but we were almost to the freeway. I could see its glow from just over the hill. We were almost there!

There was a loud, metallic crack somewhere behind my head, making me instinctively recoil from its source and making Natsuki exclaim in surprise. It was quickly followed by more, similar cracks. They were shooting at us now. They saw where we were going.

"Get your head down!" I shouted to Natsuki who promptly ducked down in her seat and held her hands over her head. I ducked down slightly myself, and not a second later a bullet crashed through the glass behind me and left a hole in the windshield in front of me. Natsuki shrieked, and I gripped the steering wheel harder and tried to coax any more speed I could out of the truck. Wind whipped through the cabin through the new holes in the glass and my eyes began to water from it.

Then, the bullets stopped. We were on the bridge over the freeway. I slammed on the breaks, slowing us just enough to make the turn onto the entrance ramp. More screams from Natsuki, but they were almost entirely drowned out by the shrieking of the tires. I shifted pedals and accelerated down the ramp and onto the freeway, merging in just in front of a large semi-truck. In my mirrors, I could see the vehicles, shadowy black HUMVEEs, that had been chasing us stop at the top of the ramp and watch us disappear. Part of my mind wondered how on earth they had been going so fast in such bulky vehicles, but relief quickly swamped all other thoughts.

We had done it. We had gotten away. They didn't risk pursuing us with so many other people around.

Just as I breathed a sigh of relief, a small fist connected firmly with my shoulder, making me exclaim more in surprise than pain.

"Don't scare me like that!" Natsuki was pouting and sulking in her seat, refusing to look at me. She was probably embarrassed for screaming, but that was ok. We were alive.

"Ok, sorry, I'll try not to do it again," I replied, playing along.

"You'd better not! Or else…" She trailed off, finally looking out the window at where we were. Her jaw fell open, and I smiled. She'd probably never seen so many cars or people in one place her entire life. I could see the headlights reflected in her wide eyes as she took in the surrounding vehicles.

It was strange. Something that seemed so normal to me, like a freeway, could be so awe-inspiring to her. She'd never seen anything like it before, and thus it was amazing to her.

"Where are they all going?" she almost whispered the question, still not taking her eyes off the vehicles and people in them.

"Lots of places. The big trucks are probably hauling stuff from city to city or maybe even across the country. The people in the smaller cars could be going home after a day at work, or going other places. It's hard to know, really."

"Across the country…?" She echoed my words in the form of a question. That's right, Monika had only started homeschooling them about a month ago, and even that had basically only been teaching them to read, write, and do math. (They all knew how to do that stuff to some extent, but none aside from Yuri really knew fully how to read or write yet.)

For the next 10 minutes or so, I answered all her questions about where we lived and what 'normal' people were like. All of it was so new to her, and every answer seemed to leave her with five more questions.

Finally, I found a rest stop and pulled into the gas station there. We both got out and stretched our legs while I topped off the truck's fuel tank and took a look at our windshield and rear window. I settled on the good old method of using duct-tape to "fix" them until I could find a better option. Thankfully, I'd thought to strap everything in the back down… except my backpack which was now nowhere to be found. I kicked myself for not keeping it in the cabin with me, but at least it had only held clothes.

I looked around to find Natsuki hiding behind one of the fuel pumps, watching the small, somewhat run-down convenience store that every gas station has. I smiled and joined her, standing next to her. I decided to try something fun.

I took her hand and began gently leading her towards the brightly-lit windows of the store. At first she was surprised and resisted, but it was only seconds before her curiosity got the best of her and she followed me, excitement written plainly on her face.

The little bell above the door jingled as we entered, and Natsuki looked up in surprise, then around at all the shelves of commodities and junk food. Thankfully, apart from the cashier who seemed a little more than half-asleep, there were only two biker-type guys at a table in the far corner eating hotdogs or something. They didn't even look up when we came in.

I couldn't resist. I had to get her a treat of some sort. But what to get? All this was so new to her.

"Oh!" a small exclamation came from Natsuki and she took a few steps toward the brightly-colored plastic bottles of pop in a fridge along the side of the store. There was my answer!

I smiled at her, nodded, and lead her over to fridge where she stood still, staring at all the bright colors and exciting logos on the bottles.

"Go ahead, pick one," I barely contained my laughter. It was both so funny and so amazing to see just how excited she could be over something as simple as this.

"Really?" She looked up at me, and when I nodded, went back to examining the bottles with renewed interest. Finally, after much decision, she settled on an orange soda, and I grabbed a root beer for myself because why not. She almost instantly tried to open it (with no success) before I explained to her that we had to pay for it first.

The cashier barely looked up when I paid for our drinks and gas, and I almost wondered if he was indeed asleep. Back in the truck, I showed Natsuki how to open the bottle and watched intently as she took a first, tentative sip. Her eyebrows shot up and her eyes went wide. Then she laughed, and I joined in.

"It's so sweet! And it… it kinda burns a bit but I like it!" She struggled to describe it, but it was clear enough that she enjoyed it as she went for another sip.

"Yah, pop is generally pretty fizzy, which is part of what makes it fun," I winked, opening my own bottle.

"I love it!" she said. The look on her face was one of simple happiness and enjoyment and it warmed my heart, "Thank you!"

"You're very welcome, Natsuki!"

"I just wish—!" she stopped short, mid-sentence, her smile fading. "I just wish the others were here. Sayori and Monika and Yuri…" she turned to me, "Are they alright?"

Suddenly I felt guilty. Monika and the others could be in trouble, and here I was, running away down the freeway and stopping for a snack. Natsuki's conversation had distracted me, and I kicked myself for it.

Natsuki replaced her bottle in a cup-holder as if she'd lost interest in it. Clearly my expression gave me away. "We need to go back. Please."

"Yes, I know. We'll leave right now," I did my best not to swear in front of her, but god damn it I was really upset with myself.

I pulled out of the gas station and back onto the freeway, and I had to explain to a very upset Natsuki why we couldn't just turn around and go the other way. I took the first exit I saw, crossed the overpass, and got back on the freeway going the other direction. On the trip down we had been trying to blend into the traffic more, but on the way back we flew past most of the traffic, going well over the speed limit. I pulled off the freeway two exits before where we'd gotten on, and decided to try to approach the situation from another angle. I was fairly certain that they'd be watching the town. If Monika had gotten in, she should be safe, at least from them.

After we had traveled a while, still in silence, the road began to go uphill. Good, I'd picked the right exit. It wasn't long until we reached the lookout point I had remembered. I used to come up here and just relax and read a book or something to get my mind off whatever I'd seen that I wished I hadn't. I also remembered that you could see for miles from up here, and it afforded a great view of the town. I pulled off the road, into the grass and killed the engine. The headlights switched off and we were left in darkness, lit only by the stars above and the half-moon. I grabbed a pair of high-powered binoculars (that originally belonged to Jerry) from the glove compartment and stepped outside. Natsuki followed, carrying her orange bottle with her.

I surveyed the town and the roads leading into it. The town itself seemed quiet, with only a few vehicles visible on the streets I could see. Most of the lights in houses and businesses were out, aside from the few that were either open late or never closed. Outside the town, there seemed to be nothing…

For a brief moment, about a mile and a half outside of town, a light flickered alongside the main road in and out of the town. It was small and looked like a flashlight, but I could already guess who it belonged to. Looking carefully at the spot where the light had been, I was able to faintly see the starlight reflecting off the windshield of a black HUMVEE just like the ones which had chased us and blocked our path before. That meant the main road was out of the question, how about other roads?

As it turned out, from looking at a map of the area, there appeared to be about five roads entering and exiting town. Checking all of them through the binoculars, I was able to find a shadowy vehicle about a mile and a half outside of town on each one. They must either intend to catch me going in, or Monika coming out, assuming Monika had made it in in the first place.

I sincerely hoped she had made it in and found somewhere safe.

Then I noticed it. There was a small house a ways out from the town. The house's driveway opened onto a small, gravel road that wasn't on the map, and, as far as I could tell, there were no vehicles parked on it. It was perfect.

I turned to return to the truck, and noticed Natsuki. She was sitting up against the rear wheel of the truck, carefully sipping her drink and staring up at the stars. She didn't seem to be paying attention to anything else, just watching the stars twinkle in the night sky. I almost hated to bother her.

"Hey Natsuki, we've got to go."

She shook her head as if clearing it, put the cap back on the bottle, then hopped to her feet and jogged around to the passenger side door, "Alright, we got a plan?"

"Yah," I said, getting in the driver's seat and starting the engine, "They're watching all the major roads going in and out of town, but there's a gravel road that looked clear. We're going to head in on it."

"Wait!" Natsuki gripped my arm, "They're watching the town?"

I winced. Her grip was tight. "Yah, but not this road. We should be able to get in without being noticed."

"Well… You'd better not be too noisy then."

"I'll be careful. I promise."

She released my arm and sat back in her seat, arms crossed, "Well, what are we waiting for?"

I couldn't think of a witty response, so I just shifted the truck into gear and drove down from the lookout point in the direction of where I thought the gravel road would intersect this road.

I missed the road once, realized I'd gone too far, turned around, missed the road again, and finally found the road on my third attempt. It was so well-hidden among the trees alongside the road that it was a wonder I found it at all. It was quite the squeeze, but I managed to get the truck onto the narrow road without hitting anything. Thankfully, we broke through the tree-line after only about a minute of crawling along, inches away from trees on either side.

Our drive was slow and stressful, but mercifully uneventful. Initially I assumed the road was just one that had been abandoned a long time ago, as evidenced by it being plowed over in some spots, requiring me to drive around the fields and try to find it on the other side. It wasn't until we were driving through a yard between an old farm house and a shed that I realized the road we had been on was probably what was left of an old driveway onto the paved road we had come from. As we got onto the new driveway into town on the other side of the yard, I heard dogs start barking behind us and saw a few lights coming on in the farmhouse. I guess they weren't used to unknown vehicles crossing their yard late at night.

The driveway into town was in much better condition, allowing me to drive much faster than I had been up until then. Neither of us had spoken a word since we left the lookout point, and the tension smothered any hope for conversation. If we were seen before we got into town, we were in for a whole lot of trouble.

The driveway seemed to stretch on forever, the lights of the town never seeming to get any closer. Then, in an instant it seemed, we were on paved road underneath streetlights in a quiet residential area of town. I let out an audible sigh of relief. Natsuki started giggling. "You were so tense! It was so funny!"

I couldn't decide if I wanted to be annoyed or laugh along, so I gave her a sarcastic grin and turned my attention back to the road ahead of us.

We had made it into town, now where was Monika? The green light on the dashboard was still out, so either she had the jeep parked and the radio off, or… no, she was here. She would want to be somewhere with people, and that narrowed things down significantly at this time of night. Maybe a convenience store? That would make sense, right?

As I pulled onto the deserted main street of town, I scanned the buildings on either side. I spotted a convenience store with its lights on, but I didn't see the jeep anywhere nearby. She could have hidden it or parked it elsewhere, but that wouldn't make sense for if she wanted to make a quick escape… I continued down the main street, checking each storefront and each alley for the jeep with no results. She had made it in, right? She had to be safe…

Growing slightly more desperate now, I began checking side streets off of the main street, still with no success. No Jeep. No Monika. No Yuri. No Sayori. Nothing but dark storefronts and shuttered windows.

Just as I was giving up hope, Natsuki sat bolt-upright in her seat and pointed out her window at a building we had just passed, "Wait! That's our jeep! That's them!"

Instantly I slammed on the breaks and spun around in my seat. Sure enough, there was the jeep, parked in front of… oh Monika why. Of all the places…

I did a U-turn and pulled into a parking space next to the jeep. I grabbed my gun, my big gun. There was no telling what kind of situation Monika had gotten into, coming to a place like this, especially this late.

As I shut off the engine and stepped out of the truck, I began to think. I guess it did kind of make sense. A bar was a lot closer and more likely to actually have people in it at this hour than a convenience store. Plus, it wasn't on main street and, as I'd found out, that made it much harder to locate her. But still, you didn't usually find many wholesome characters at a bar, especially this late. Maybe she hadn't been thinking straight? That was certainly a possibility.

No matter why she had come here, I had no idea what kind of situation she was in so I had to be careful. I slung my gun over my shoulder and kept my hand near my sidearm at my hip. Natsuki followed close behind.

I walked into the bar and a bell above the door announced my presence.

The first thing I did was take in my surroundings. The place had a rustic feel to it, something that felt natural for a town like this. Fancy glass light fixtures cast a warm, red-orange glow, and a TV just behind the bar emitted a quiet murmur and displayed some sports game or other. Three men sat at the bar. Two of them were having a rousing conversation about the pros and cons of using fresh bait when fishing, while the other, a grumpy-looking fellow, sat on the other end of the bar, eying his half-empty bottle as it had offended him in some way. Strangely enough, there was nobody behind the bar.

I scanned the booths along the wall. They all seemed to be empty, save for the one nearest the far wall. The figure was facing away from me, bent over some task on the table in front of them, but they were small, with peach-colored hair and a red bow. A little stuffed cow sat on the table in front of them…

"Sayori!" I struggled to keep my voice level and keep from shouting with relief, "Sayori it's me!"

Instantly the figure shot up from the table and came flying towards me. "John! John! John! You made it! You're here! You're aliiiiiiive!" She didn't even bother slowing down when she reached me, she simply crashed into with me an in a big hug.

"Hey, I'm here too, silly!" Natsuki said, trying to pry Sayori off me. By now the two friends at the bar were looking over at us in what appeared to be mild confusion, while the grumpy man seemed to have not noticed anything. I summoned my best "nothing to see here, don't worry" smile and waved them off. They turned back around, but now they were clearly whispering to each other. Maybe I shouldn't have brought my gun into the bar after all…

A shorter, slightly bald man with a thick, brown mustache and square-rimmed glasses burst out of a door just past the bar nearly at a jog. His eyes landed on me and his face blanched slightly, but he skidded to a stop when he saw Sayori hugging me, Natsuki still trying to pry her lose and grumbling about how clingy she was. We stood staring at each other in an awkward silence for a good ten seconds, his face contorting in confusion. I had no idea what was going on, but I decided it was time to break the ice.

"Hey, good evening. You haven't happened to have seen a woman come in here, have you? Brown hair, green eyes?" The man's face continued to morph from one expression of confusion to the next, and I was starting to get concerned. "Her jeep is out front, so I'm pretty sure she's here. She brought two girls with her, correct? And this is one?" I patted Sayori's shoulder.

The man seemed to finally gather himself and cleared his throat. He took a deep breath, then finally spoke, "What's it to you? I mean— I'm… I'm just wondering why you want to… and why the gun…? And why was she running from you— I mean who was she running— I mean I don't know what you're—!" He shut his eyes and pursed his lips in an expression of sheer exasperation, presumably at his own stuttering.

Slightly inebriated laughter erupted from the two friends at the bar, "Good ol' Wally! Never able to keep a secret to save his life!" Wally, or so the short man was apparently called, shot the two a death glare before turning to me again and cringing.

"Look," I said before he could start again, "she's waiting for me. Where is she? And the other girl?"

Wally hesitated a moment, pursed his lips, then sighed, turned, and beckoned me to follow.

I followed him into the back room he had emerged from earlier, Natsuki and Sayori following close behind. I felt the eyes of the two men on my back as we passed through the doorway, but once I saw what was inside I ceased to care. There was Monika, sitting on the floor in the corner of the room, hugging her knees to her chest and burying her face in them. She was shaking and mumbling something to herself, though it was muffled by her knees and interrupted my occasional hiccups and sobs. Yuri was kneeling nearby, and when she saw us come in she looked up at the ceiling and closed her eyes in an expression of pure relief.

So Monika had broken down after all. Thankfully she'd gotten herself and the girls here safe first. I looked over at Wally who was nervously fiddling with his glasses, "How long has she been like this?"

"About half an hour…I think," he glanced around the room at everything except me, "I was going to call 911 about her but… the purple one… she said—she didn't want me to."

I grimaced. Half an hour? That must have been horrible for her. Without responding, I knelt down and gently laid a hand on Monika's arm. She shied away from it and mumbled slightly louder, but I still couldn't make it out.

"Monnie? Can you hear me?" I began gently rubbing her shoulder, speaking softly and trying to get through to her. "I'm here now. Everything's alright. We're all safe." In the corner of my vision I saw Yuri gently lead the now silent Natsuki and Sayori out of the room while Wally remained, fidgeting with his glasses even more furiously than before.

This went on for about ten minutes or so, Monika shaking and mumbling and me doing my best to comfort her and get through to her, before she finally stopped mumbling looked up at me. Her eyes were bloodshot and red from crying, and her face was a mess of tear stains. Slowly her eyes came into focus and her breathing slowed to something more natural. She stared into my eyes for a long moment before wordlessly collapsing into me. I held her for a while, still trying to comfort her. After a very long few minutes, she stopped shaking, took a few deep breaths, and sat up on her own.

"…How long…?"

"About half an hour," I said, "sorry I didn't get here sooner."

She winced, and I now felt even worse about my little rest stop. She began to rise, and I helped her shakily to her feet.

I turned to Wally, "Can you get her a glass of water?" Still not looking at me, Wally nodded, turned, and hurried out the door. Carefully I lead Monika out after him.

The girls were sitting quietly together in the booth Sayori had occupied earlier, and the looks on their faces when I came out with Monika where ones of immense relief.

Sayori jumped up and I had to keep her from tackling Monika in a hug, "Monika! You're ok!"

Monika managed a weak smile and gently messed Sayori's hair, "Yes, yes I am."

The other girls weren't far behind in greeting Monika, and I said a quiet thank you to Yuri for sticking with Monika. She nodded slightly and gently smiled, saying nothing. I don't think I'd heard her say a single word since we'd gotten here, but I guess that's just Yuri for you.

Thankfully the bar carried a bit more than just drinks, so I got everyone some sandwiches and joined them in the booth. Monika quickly seemed to recover her strength, though it was clear through her watery eyes and weak laughter that she was still quite shaken up. That's ok. As far as I was aware, we were safe for now. This bar would be open a few more hours, so we should be able to stick around for a while. As for the other people here, the two friends kept glancing over at us but they didn't seem like much of a threat, they were just curious. The grumpy-looking guy _*still*_ hadn't so much as looked at us, so I guessed he wouldn't be causing us any trouble. Wally was still skittish as ever, constantly glancing over at us, fidgeting, and mumbling to himself, but he seemed like he could hardly be a threat even if he wanted to be. Clearly I was making him uncomfortable, but wasn't going to go put my gun away. I've already brought it in, so I'm certainly not going to go put it back in the truck.

When we had all finished our sandwiches, we turned to the topic of what we were going to do next. Monika suggested we try to find some place to spend the rest of the night, maybe a hotel or something, and then work out what we would do next tomorrow morning. She was clearly stressed out and just wanted to sleep, but we needed to have a plan as soon as possible, just in case anything happened. I agreed that we should find some place to spend the night, but I also pointed out that daylight was going to be our friend. Those chasing us couldn't operate as freely without the cover of darkness, and daylight meant more traffic we could hide in and less of a need for stealth. In theory, we should be able to evade them indefinitely as long as we traveled by day and stuck out the night somewhere where there was plenty of people around. Monika thought for a moment, then agreed that it sounded like it could work. For a moment, it seemed like everything could still be ok.

Then the front door burst open and a loud, deep voice bellowed into the bar, "Alright! Where's he hiding?!"

My blood turned to ice. My hand went to my gun. My back was to the door, but the high back of the booth hid me from sight. Monika, however, was perfectly visible to anyone coming in the door, as was Sayori who was sitting next to her. Monika's face lost its color, and her eyes shot between me and whoever it was who had just entered. I readied myself and waited for whatever happened next.

"You lost your marbles already, Mark?" a laugh came from one of the two friends at the bar, "I thought that only happened when you got some drink in you!"

The man, Mark, seemed not to heed them. "Jerry you ass! You forgot about our fishing trip and then you come here? Where are you hiding?"

From where I was sitting, I couldn't see the two friends or the man who had come in, only the third man at the bar. At these words, the man, who had hardly seemed to have even blinked up until now, sat up straight, glaring intently in the direction of the door.

"What makes you think Jerry is here, you idiot? He's been missing for almost five days now!"

You could almost hear the bewildered shock coming from the man at the door, even before he said anything. "Missing? What did the poor ass do? Get lost in the woods? Step in his own trap?"

 _ **"We don't know!"**_ the man at the bar bellowed, his face slowly turning red. "We've spent days searching for him! We haven't even found that monstrosity of a truck of his! _Nothing!_ "

Oh no. Oh god damn it. I knew what Mark was going to say before he even said it. I double-checked to see that my gun was loaded, just in case.

"But… But his truck is parked right outside! That's why I thought he was here!"

Silence.

"You're sure it's his truck?" the man at the bar asked quietly, his voice suddenly dangerously level.

"You think I could mistake that beast?"

The man nodded…

…Then turned to look at me.

"Son, you've got some explaining to do, and you'd better do it quick."


End file.
